An NBA owners' committee studying the future of the Sacramento Kings has unanimously recommended the team not be moved to Seattle and be kept in Sacramento.

The owners of the Kings, the Maloof family, had been pushing the Kings be sold to a group that would move the team to Seattle. The finance and relocation committees held a conference call Monday afternoon to make their final decision on what to recommend to the rest of the league's owners after studying competing offers for several months.

Under procedure, the owners will not vote until seven days after they receive the findings of the committee, which means any decision will not become official until next week. However, the full body of owners is expected to follow the recommendation.

The board will meet during the week of May 13 to vote, the league said in a release.

"Unanimously."

Expecting a rubber stamp vote next week, a swift withdrawl from the Hansen group, an approval of sale to the Burkle/Mastrov/Vivek/Mitch Richmond group, and that with great hope, this will be the LAST time I have to start a thread here telling all of you that, yes, the Kings are staying in Sacramento once and for all.

Congratulations to Sacramento and especially to their new mayor-for-life, Kevin Johnson.

I don't know about that. Hansen has spent nearly $100 million based on the fact that he had an agreement in principle, on paper, to buy the Kings from the Maloofs. I'm not even sure what the Maloofs will do considering they are reportedly only looking at an offer 80% as good as Hansen's from the Sacramento group. That's is a couple of groups with a LOT at stake with this result and a lot of lawyers if they decide to go that route.

Having said that, I don't know why the NBA wouldn't just give Seattle an expansion team at this point, unless (as Bill Simmons has speculated) they would have Hansen make a deal with Milwaukee. I don't see what the league would find good about a Milwaukee move that they didn't like about a Sacramento one, though.

Anyway, I find this extremely interesting. I never really WANTED the Kings to become the Sonics, even if the NBA would've cut off the Kings lineage and taken the Sonics lineage back from OKC. It doesn't sound like the Sacramento plan for the arena is super solid, either, compared to Hansen who already owns all the land needed for the arena.

Bottomline, while I was pretty hopeful the Kings would be here in 2013 I never fully committed myself to the idea (unlike lots of people here) until I heard David Stern say the words "the Kings will move to Seattle."

Holy fuck shit motherfucker shit. Read comics. Fuck shit shit fuck shit I sold out when I did my job. Fuck fuck fuck shit fuck. Sorry had to do it....

*snip*

Revenge of the Sith = one thumb up from me. Fuck shit. I want to tittie fuck your ass. -- The Guinness. to Cerebus

To go along with that Simmons speculation, beyond the Bucks you also have the Bobcats, Pacers and T-Wolves that could be in tenuous arena or ownership situations. The NBA isn't going to let a wealthy, seemingly committed owner like Hansen get away --- they'll get a team in Seattle sooner rather than later.

"It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone." --- Bart Giamatti, on baseball

Originally posted by ekedolphinDavid Stern has said that an expansion team (be it a Sonics replacement or a Kings replacement) is not in the cards, but he hasn't really said why.

Conjecture here is that he *had* to keep saying no to expansion to keep the heat on Sacramento (because this would be the only avenue for Hansen/Ballmer to get a team.) However, Ballmer said the other day that in his mind there's no way an expansion team is an option, simply because the NBA owners don't want to add a 31st split in the league's financial pie.

I didn't think the Hansen group would just take their ball and go home, and it doesn't sound like they are planning to.

Originally posted by Chris Hansen at sonicsarena.comTo the Sonics Faithful

While we are disappointed with the relocation committee’s recommendation, we just wanted to let you all know that we remain fully committed to seeing this transaction through. As you are all well aware, we have a binding transaction to purchase the Kings for what would be a record price for an NBA franchise, have one of the best ownership groups ever assembled to purchase a professional sports team in the US, have clearly demonstrated that we have a much more solid Arena plan, have offered a much higher price than the yet to be finalized Sacramento Group, and have placed all of the funds to close the transaction into escrow. As such, we plan to unequivocally state our case for both relocation and our plan to move forward with the transaction to the league and owners at the upcoming Board of Governor’s Meeting in Mid-May.

When we started this process everyone thought it was impossible. While this represents yet another obstacle to achieving our goal, I just wanted to reassure all of you that we have numerous options at our disposal and have absolutely no plans to give up. Impossible is nothing but a state of mind.

“Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they've been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It's a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.” ―Muhammad Ali

—Chris Hansen

KJ had better have all his stuff together, because if he slips up now he's going to look ridiculous and the Hansen group is ready to wrap their deal up.

Holy fuck shit motherfucker shit. Read comics. Fuck shit shit fuck shit I sold out when I did my job. Fuck fuck fuck shit fuck. Sorry had to do it....

*snip*

Revenge of the Sith = one thumb up from me. Fuck shit. I want to tittie fuck your ass. -- The Guinness. to Cerebus

Originally posted by CRZOn the other hand, Hansen looks ridiculous right now.

How so, exactly? He's got a signed contract with the Maloofs and he's put a lot of dough into the area prepping to break ground on the new arena. It seems like the consensus of NBA writers (aka People Who Don't Care if the Kings are in Sacramento, Seattle, or Saskatchewan*) feel like Hansen is doing exactly what should be done if he wants a team.

I'd think if ANY party looks "ridiculous" it's the Maloofs, who claimed no deal could be made in Sacramento only to see the city (so far) step up and prove them wrong. All Hansen did is agree to buy the team.

Originally posted by It's FalseHey, just out of curiosity, who IS the head of the NBA Relocation Committee, anyway?

Speaking to reporters about the Sacramento Kings relocation saga, David Stern let it be known Oklahoma City Thunder owner Clay Bennett had been named the relocation committee chairman on Friday.

Oh......him.

Believe it or not, that seemed like something that was going to work in our favor at one point, seeing as Clay-Clay would've looked the fool for moving one team and then not supporting another's right to move. Unfortunately (for us) he's David Stern's puppet-boy first and foremost, so when DJS started supporting Sacramento that's how Clay-Clay was going to go no matter what.

Holy fuck shit motherfucker shit. Read comics. Fuck shit shit fuck shit I sold out when I did my job. Fuck fuck fuck shit fuck. Sorry had to do it....

*snip*

Revenge of the Sith = one thumb up from me. Fuck shit. I want to tittie fuck your ass. -- The Guinness. to Cerebus

DALLAS (AP) - NBA owners voted Wednesday to reject the Sacramento Kings' proposed move to Seattle, the latest in a long line of cities that have tried to land the franchise.

The 22-8 vote followed a recommendation made last month by the NBA's relocation committee and may have finally brought an end to an emotional saga that has dragged on for nearly three years.

A group led by investor Chris Hansen had a deal to buy the team. Hansen hoped to move the franchise to Seattle and rename it the SuperSonics. The original Sonics were moved to Oklahoma City in 2008 and were renamed the Thunder.

Commissioner David Stern said the league will spend the next 24 to 48 hours talking to the Maloofs, the team's owners, about working out a deal with a competing ownership group in Sacramento.

"The big winner here was Sacramento," Stern said.

The Maloofs reached an agreement in January to sell a 65 percent controlling interest in the team to Hansen's group at a total franchise valuation of $525 million, topping the NBA-record $450 million for Joe Lacob and Peter Guber to buy the Warriors in 2010. Then Hansen increased his offer to $550 million, which implies buying the 65 percent stake for about $357 million.

Following the relocation committee's unanimous recommendation on April 29 to deny the move to Seattle, Hansen and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer dug deeper into their pockets in a final attempt to sway the NBA Board of Governors. They raised the valuation of the Kings to $625 million, or $406 million for the Maloofs' interest in the franchise, and offered a $115 million relocation fee, nearly four times what Clay Bennett paid to move the Sonics.

Hansen's group also guaranteed owners that the franchise would pay into the league's revenue-sharing system in Seattle and not collect money as it has in Sacramento.

They were aggressive and bold public statements that had been lacking from the Seattle group through much of the process while Sacramento openly made its case in the public eye.

As a backup, the Seattle group negotiated a plan to buy a minority stake in the Kings with the Maloofs retaining majority ownership and keeping the team in Sacramento.

Stern said the Board of Governors considered the $625 million offer from the Seattle group and that the competing Sacramento group had matched the original offer of $525 million for the Kings.

"It's my expectation that we'll be able to make a deal with the Maloofs and the (Vivek) Ranadive group to transfer title of the team in Sacramento. It's not a certainty but we're going to work for that result," Stern said.

It's the second time since 2011 that the Maloof brothers have made plans that would have ended in relocation for the Kings. The first target was Anaheim, Calif., but Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, a former All-Star guard, convinced the NBA to give the city another chance to finance a new arena.

Johnson delivered on a promise for a plan for a new downtown arena with help from Stern, but the Maloofs backed out, saying it didn't make financial sense.

The Maloofs had another surprise when they announced a deal with Hansen's group, which includes Ballmer and members of the Nordstrom department store family.

Johnson fought back again, this time lining up an ownership group led by TIBCO software chairman Vivek Ranadive and getting the Sacramento City Council to approve a non-binding financing plan for a $447 million arena with a $258 million public subsidy.

The potential Sacramento ownership group also includes 24 Hour Fitness founder Mark Mastrov, former Facebook senior executive Chris Kelly and the Jacobs family that owns communications giant Qualcomm.

Seattle has been without an NBA franchise since the SuperSonics moved. Led by star Kevin Durant, the Thunder have made the playoffs four straight seasons, reached the Western Conference finals in 2011 and lost to Miami in last year's NBA finals.

The NBA's relocation committee, coincidentally headed by Bennett, voted unanimously last month to reject the bid to move the Kings.

In a letter sent to the relocation and finance committees during its April 17 meeting, the Maloofs said they preferred to sell to the Seattle group and expressed discontent with Sacramento's latest bid, saying it falls "significantly short."

Stern has said the offers are in "the same ballpark," and has reiterated his long-held stance that expansion is unlikely right now.

Hansen spent nearly two years working to get an arena plan approved by the city and county governments and spent more than $65 million buying land in Seattle's SoDo neighborhood where the arena would be built. Hansen has a five-year memorandum of understanding with the city and county on the arena plan.

Ladies and gentlemen, the following public service message is brought to you by your friends from D-Generation X, who would like to remind each and every one of you that if you're not down with that, we've got two words for you...Seems to me that the NBA is about to be sued into oblivion by Hansen and Ballmer's deep pockets, and Stern will get to go into retirement not on a high, but shamed and humiliated when the courts side with Seattle and what clearly is a superior deal for the Maloofs (albeit one that they don't deserve, but sometimes scumbags do get to make out in the end) that was rejected for political reasons.

Sorry, CRZ, but that's just the way I see it. Stern's bought the Kings fanbase one or two more seasons, but the terms of the deal and the NBA's own precedents work against them in a neutral setting. The only way the Kings stay long term is if Hansen and Ballmer go away, and that's not going to happen.

smark/net attack Advisory System Status is: Elevated(Holds; June 18, 2006)While the switch from Cena to RVD should alleviate some complaints, the inevitability of the belt's return to Cena (note where Summerslam is this year) and the poor initial showing by the new ECW are enough to keep the indicator where it is for now. The pieces are in place, though, especially on RAW, for improvements to be made to the IWC's psyche in the near future.

Originally posted by Texas KellySeems to me that the NBA is about to be sued into oblivion by Hansen and Ballmer's deep pockets, and Stern will get to go into retirement not on a high, but shamed and humiliated when the courts side with Seattle and what clearly is a superior deal for the Maloofs (albeit one that they don't deserve, but sometimes scumbags do get to make out in the end) that was rejected for political reasons.

Sorry, CRZ, but that's just the way I see it. Stern's bought the Kings fanbase one or two more seasons, but the terms of the deal and the NBA's own precedents work against them in a neutral setting. The only way the Kings stay long term is if Hansen and Ballmer go away, and that's not going to happen.

Easy solution....the NBA tosses the Maloofs an extra $100M to make any lawsuits go away, and the Hansen/Ballmer group is awarded an expansion franchise.

"It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone." --- Bart Giamatti, on baseball

Ladies and gentlemen, the following public service message is brought to you by your friends from D-Generation X, who would like to remind each and every one of you that if you're not down with that, we've got two words for you...

Originally posted by Big BadEasy solution....the NBA tosses the Maloofs an extra $100M to make any lawsuits go away, and the Hansen/Ballmer group is awarded an expansion franchise.

Only problem with that is the NBA has refused to put expansion plans to paper until after the TV contracts get renegotiated in a couple of years. Unless they're willing to bend on that and make a binding commitment to Seattle now, no expansion franchise is forthcoming and I don't think Hansen and Ballmer will take empty promises to go away. OTOH, the Maloofs are slimy enough that a $100 million under-the-table payment might be enough to get them to abandon Hansen and Ballmer, but that just gives the Seattle boys more ammunition for the lawsuit that they'd be funding regardless of the circumstances.

Either way, barring something that COMPLETELY surprises me, I think this is far from "over".

smark/net attack Advisory System Status is: Elevated(Holds; June 18, 2006)While the switch from Cena to RVD should alleviate some complaints, the inevitability of the belt's return to Cena (note where Summerslam is this year) and the poor initial showing by the new ECW are enough to keep the indicator where it is for now. The pieces are in place, though, especially on RAW, for improvements to be made to the IWC's psyche in the near future.

Originally posted by Texas KellyEither way, barring something that COMPLETELY surprises me, I think this is far from "over".

I thought this was over when I started this thread. Nothing's changed from my point of view since then.

The only way it's not "over" is if the Maloofs decide not to play ball with Mayor KJ's group and instead sell 20% of the team to Hansen + Ballmer (which is apparently the Maloofs' preference), and then the Sacto arena deal goes to hell, so they Maloofs finish the 65% deal and the team moves anyway.

Anyway, once David Stern (and FUCK that guy...the smarmy little bastard) hits the bricks it sounds like Adam Silver may be more pro-expansion, but not until the TV contracts are up for bidding in 2015-16. And if I'm the NBA I go for 32 teams for expansion to drum up a bidding war for the presumed "second" expansion team (since the assumption would be Seattle's getting the first one).

If you're wondering "why does David Stern hate Seattle so much?" this is a pretty good primer on why.

Holy fuck shit motherfucker shit. Read comics. Fuck shit shit fuck shit I sold out when I did my job. Fuck fuck fuck shit fuck. Sorry had to do it....

*snip*

Revenge of the Sith = one thumb up from me. Fuck shit. I want to tittie fuck your ass. -- The Guinness. to Cerebus

Ladies and gentlemen, the following public service message is brought to you by your friends from D-Generation X, who would like to remind each and every one of you that if you're not down with that, we've got two words for you...

Originally posted by JayJayDeanThe only way it's not "over" is if the Maloofs decide not to play ball with Mayor KJ's group and instead sell 20% of the team to Hansen + Ballmer (which is apparently the Maloofs' preference), and then the Sacto arena deal goes to hell, so they Maloofs finish the 65% deal and the team moves anyway.

Here's the catch, though: The NBA would have to approve the "backup plan" to sell a minority share to Hansen and Ballmer, and while it's been repeatedly said that they can't "force" the Maloofs to go with the Sacramento group, the truth is that they can try by blocking the "backup plan" - because the NBA knows perfectly well that deal would have the Kings one foot out the door with the rest inevitably to follow. (And when the backup plan gets blocked, that's the point where Hansen and Ballmer declare a legal war that, IMO, the NBA doesn't have a hope in hell of winning.)

smark/net attack Advisory System Status is: Elevated(Holds; June 18, 2006)While the switch from Cena to RVD should alleviate some complaints, the inevitability of the belt's return to Cena (note where Summerslam is this year) and the poor initial showing by the new ECW are enough to keep the indicator where it is for now. The pieces are in place, though, especially on RAW, for improvements to be made to the IWC's psyche in the near future.

Originally posted by JayJayDeanThe only way it's not "over" is if the Maloofs decide not to play ball with Mayor KJ's group and instead sell 20% of the team to Hansen + Ballmer (which is apparently the Maloofs' preference), and then the Sacto arena deal goes to hell, so they Maloofs finish the 65% deal and the team moves anyway.

This will not happen...

Originally posted by Texas Kelly(And when the backup plan gets blocked, that's the point where Hansen and Ballmer declare a legal war that, IMO, the NBA doesn't have a hope in hell of winning.)

Originally posted by JayJayDeanThe only way it's not "over" is if the Maloofs decide not to play ball with Mayor KJ's group and instead sell 20% of the team to Hansen + Ballmer (which is apparently the Maloofs' preference), and then the Sacto arena deal goes to hell, so they Maloofs finish the 65% deal and the team moves anyway.

This will not happen...

Which part? George Maloof said yesterday he'd like to have Hansen and Ballmer in the ownership group, so if the Maloofs decide to blow off Vivek and everyone else on account of Hansen & Ballmer being willing to pay them $65 million extra, then that doesn't seem unreasonable to me. I didn't mean to imply that IF that happened THEN the arena thing might fall apart (which I kind of did but not on purpose), because the arena deal is separate from the ownership transaction. It *seems* like (especially having seen all the hoops Hansen's group has jumped through with our local government) that there are still plenty of steps (like land purchase, environmental impact studies, interest rates affecting cost overruns) that Hansen had clearly and completely addressed up here that are still in the "great idea that one or a group of a-holes can mess up" stage down there.

I guess what I'm saying is that I'm still in "wait-and-see mode" as far as the permanence of this decision. (Which frankly, I am with our arena, too.) I'm not saying I would wager that it will happen or anything (or even that I'd like it to), but if I'm a Kings fan in Sacramento I'd sure like to see land get bought and shovels break ground ASAP.

Holy fuck shit motherfucker shit. Read comics. Fuck shit shit fuck shit I sold out when I did my job. Fuck fuck fuck shit fuck. Sorry had to do it....

*snip*

Revenge of the Sith = one thumb up from me. Fuck shit. I want to tittie fuck your ass. -- The Guinness. to Cerebus

Originally posted by JayJayDeanThe only way it's not "over" is if the Maloofs decide not to play ball with Mayor KJ's group and instead sell 20% of the team to Hansen + Ballmer (which is apparently the Maloofs' preference), and then the Sacto arena deal goes to hell, so they Maloofs finish the 65% deal and the team moves anyway.